VIDEO: In the Saddle - Feb. 25

While it’s been a rebuilding year for USAO basketball, Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach Vinson Metcalf said the team has the talent and is just learning to play hard.

“The last few weeks, they’ve been playing about as well as we would like them to play,” he said. “The inexperience comes in at certain parts of the game.”

It’s the inexperience — especially in the strong Sooner Athletic Conference — that has hurt the team this season, Metcalf said.

“The best experience is you’ve got to get out there and get it done. You have to play in this league to realize how tough it is in this league,” he said. “You have to throw them in the fire, and hopefully they survive.”

Metcalf said the good thing about the program is that both he and Head Coach Brisco McPherson get to coach.

“Coach McPherson and I have become real good friends. I’ve always called him a mentor. He’s really groomed me into the person I really am on and off the basketball floor,” Metcalf said. “Basically, we both … do a lot of coaching. That’s what I appreciate about McPherson the most.”